Sound reproducing apparatus



June 7, 1932;

nF. H. owENs SOUND REPRODUCING APPARATUS Filed Sept. 9, 1929 (VIH/n l ll IN VEN TOR.

BY W v AT ORNEY.

Patented June 7, 1932 FREEMAN H.OWENS, OF NEW EORATION, or NEW YORK, N.Y.,

Yonx, N. Y., AssIGNon To oWENs DEvELorMnN'rcon- GT "A comonn'rroN or NEWYORK SOUND IRJELERODUCI-N'Grl APPARATUS 'Y Application mea september e;1929. Serial No. 391,379.` .E

This invention relates toimprovements in `sound reproducing apparatus,the principal object of the inventionbeing to provide efficient meanswhereby the A)respective .sound records on film reels `passing through apair of cooperating machines maybe alternately dissolvedl or faded in orout of projection.

As. isA well known, the projection booths of most theatres are equippedwith two projector machines so that when a film reel is runf ningthrough one the other maybe loaded with the next reel and started as thefirst projector is inshingv its reel.l Nowadays, gof course, theseprojectors are equipped with sound reproducing attachments fortalkingpictures. ATo permit this change over from oneprojector to the other,

the second projector must have at its begin- .the filmf-reel in ningseveral feet of picture images identical with those on the last few feetof the reel lin the first projector.

jected to the screen, Vthe second projector is started and the imagesfrom the first'reel are faded out simultaneously as the images at thebeginning of the second reel are faded in. The images being the same,this fading operation isnot precep-tible on the screen. viously, as soonas the reel in the second projector has been faded in and is operatingthe irst projector has been faded'out and can be stopped for the purposeof changing the reel, that is, inserting the third reel. ing arrangementconsists in a shutter or diaphragm operated to -uncover theexposurefVaperture of the second projector-synchronously with the covering of theexposure aperture of the first projector.

The present invention provides a fadingV means for the sound attachmentsof the two projectors which comprises shutter devices located WithintheV sound reproducing units, whereby the 1 sound record carried `by'the film in one machine vWill be faded. in`V simultaneously with thefading out of the sound record ,j

i tached toa shackle 12secured to the rod 13.

carried by the lm in the other machine.

In the drawing accompanying this specification, I f

Figure 1 fis a partly sectional, diagrammatic side view of a pair ofsound reproducfingvdevice'sfembodying the features of the rays ro oportion,

lWhile these last few vfeet f of reel of thefirstprojector `are beingpro- .taneously with Vthe Vfading in This fadpresent invention, certainelements of the reproducersbeingshown broken away; and

' Figure 2 isadetail plan view illustrating 'a development of thedissolving shutter drumaglg Referring tothe` drawing, A and B .designatea parof -duplicatesound reproducing apparatus, eachcomprisingA a housing1` in which are disposed a condenser lens systemQ,

a .slit partition 3, through the .slitV of whichfo light froma suitablesource such as a lamp .4 are projected by the condenser lens on to afocusinglens system 5, which in turn focuses said light rays on the4record-carrying of a film 6 traveling4 over a rollerco Iilm support7,therays so modulated by their passage 'through the sound record being"caught by a' suitably placed light sensitive element suchasa photoelectriccell 8, all as fully described tin -my contemporaneouslyaopending application Serial No.. 360,871.

a .Ashereinbefore stated,jthe object Vof the present invention is tofade out the sound record Ain one reproducing apparatus simulof thevsoundci record in the other apparatus. To this end, each apparatus isprovided with a fading Y meanscomprising a shutter ofsimilarconstructionto that shown and' described inmy copen'ding application Serial No.360,247,520 which shutter comprises an approximatelysemi-cylindrical'drum 9 having a suitably formed fading yopening 10,Vshown hereinof V-shape,although itmay have other `forms which willaccomplishlthe same object. Thet drum `9 is mounted for rotation latasuitable point between thelight 4 and the film 6, but preferablyadjacent to the slit in the partition as herein shown, whereby when thewider end of the opening-1() is in alignment with'iiGO thel slit the,reproducer is operating at its maximum. .For rotating the drums so asto cause the reproduction to fade out, each drum has securedto itspintle a radially extending arm 11, the free end of which is pivotallyat' 95 Associated with each of the rods 13 are a the rods constitutingarmatures mounted for sliding 100 the circuits through the selectedelectromagnets. The wire connections are as follows: Conductor 27 isconnected to the negatlve terminal of the battery 22 and to oneYterminal of both the Contact members 23 and 24.

The other terminal of contactmember 23 is connected by a wire 28 withelectromagnet 14,

from which latter a wire 29 connects with) tremities until attractedbythe opposite'elecelectrom'agnet 15, and a tap wire 30 connects the wire29 with the positive terminal of the battery. @-From'electromagnet 15, awire 31 leads to electromagnet 16, and va tap wire 32 connects the wire31 withy the second terminal Y of contact member 24.V 'Electromagnet 16is in turn connected by a wire 3.3 with electroy magnet 17, and a tapwire 34 connects wire 33 'with the positive terminal of the battery.

From electromagnet 17 a wire 35 leads to the second terminal ofcontactgmember 23.

With the wiring above described the operation of the apparatus is aslfollows: With the parts in the position shown in the drawing, theshutter'9 of reproducing apparatus is-in open position, that is, withthe wide end of the `V shapedv opening injalignment with the light slitin the partition 3, while Vthe shutter of reproducing apparatus B isclosed, that is the V shaped opening has been moved clear of its slit.Assuming now, that lreproducer A is to be faded out and reproducer Bfaded in. To accomplish this, pushbutton contact 23 is pushed in so asto bridge f its terminals, whereupon current will flow from battery 22through conductor 27 and contact 23. Y After passing through contact 23the current divides, a part going throu h wire 28, electromagnet 14, andwires 29, 30, ack to battery, the remainder of the current passingVthrough wire 35, electromagnet 17, wires 33,34

back to battery. The electromagnets 14 and 17 thus become energized andattract their respective rod armatures 13, so that the arms 11 will beswung from the position shown in the drawing to the opposite extremityof their movement', that is, to the position-where the shackles 12V abutagainst the `electromagnet whereby the shutter 9 of the reproducervAwill be moved to closed lor Afaded'out position while that of reproducerB will be carried to open or faded in position. When another change-overis to` be made,the push button contact 24 is pushed in so as to bridgeits terminals, whereupon current will iiow from battery 22, throughconductor 27, contact 24 and wire 32, where it divides, a part goingthrough electromagnet 16, wires 33, 34 back to battery, and theremainder passing through wire 31, electromagnet 15 and wires 39, 30back to battery. The electromagnets 16 'and 15 thus become energized andattract their respective rod armatures 13 so that the arms 11 of bothshutters will be swung to the positions shown in the drawing, therebyfading out reproducer B and fading in reproducer A.

It will be obvious that only a momentary closing of the contacts 23 and24 sufficient to energize the respective electromagnets, is required toaccomplish the desired result,

since, by reason of thefanglelformed bythe `arm l1 with its shacklel2 atlthe extremities of movement ofthe rod 13 it is im'possiblefor therodtomoveawayffrom'either of saidfeX- tromagnet. Therefore, as soon asthe desired movement has been accomplished the push button contact maybe released, whereupon it will return, under the tension of its spring,

to normal circuit-breaking position. Y By means of the dissolver andshutter hereffinbefore described, it will readily'be seen that the soundrecords on the two iilm reels passing through the respective reproducersmay be alternately dissolved or faded into and out of reproduction tocorrespond with the fading of the picturesin and out of projection.

t Iclaimz- 1 f v 1.`A sound reproducing apparatus, comprising incombination, ay pair ,l of *photographic sound reproducing units each'having a light station and afsound record carrying film adapted totravel past-said light station,

and means controlling vthe passage yof light' through said stations forsimultaneously ffading in the record in one unit and fading out of thesound recordy in the other unit. y

V2. A sound reproducing apparatus, coinprising'in combination, a pairofphoto graphic sound reproducingv units each having a light station and asound record carrying film adapted to travel past said light station,and electrically actuated means controlling the passageoflight throughsaid stations for` simultaneouslyv fadingin the record in one unit `andfading out of the sound record in the other unit. v

3. A sound reproducing apparatus, comprising in combination, a pair ofphoto--y graphic sound reproducing units each having va light stationand a sound record carrying graphic sound reproducing units each havinga light station and a sound record carrying film adapted to travel pastsaid light station,

an oscillatory shutter in each of said units adapted to shut out thelightfrom said light stations, and means for simultaneously oscillatingthe respective shutters in opposite directions thereby to fade out onesound record and 'fade in the other.

5. In a sound reproducing apparatus, a reproducing unit, an oscillatoryshutter for controlling the passage of light through said unit, aradially extending arm rigid with said shutter, a slidable rod pivotallyconnected to said arm, and a pair of electromagnets adapted tov attractsaid rod in opposite directions thereby alternately to close and openthe shutter.

6. In a sound reproducing apparatus, a reproducing unit, an oscillatoryshutter for controlling the passage of light through said unit, aradially extending arm rigid with said shutter, a slidable ro'dpivotally connected to said arm, a pair of electromagnets adapted toattract said rod in opposite directions thereby alternately to close andopen the shutter, the circuits of said electromagnets being normallyopen, and independent manually operable means for closing said circuits.

3 7. In a photographic sound reproducing apparatus7 a pair ofreproducing units, an

oscillatory shutter in each of said units for controlling the passage oflight therethrough, each of said shutters having a radially ex- -tendingarm rigid therewith, and electrically actuated means for synchronouslyoscillating the respective arms in opposite directions thereby to openOne shutter and close the other.

8. In a sound reproducing apparatus, a pair of reproducing units, anoscillatory shutter in each of said units for controlling the passage oflight therethrough, each of said shutters having a radially extendingarm rigid therewith, a slidable rod pivotally connected to each of saidarms, a pair of opposed electromagnets associated with each of saidrods, the electromagnets of each pair being adapted to attract therespective ro'ds in opposite directions and one electromagnet of eachpair being in shunt circuit with the 0p posed electromagnet of the otherpair, the circuits of said electromagnets being normally open, andindependent manually operable means for closing said circuits whereby onthe operation of either of said means one shutter will be moved toclosed position and the other to open position.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature, 6 FREEMAN H. ownNs.

